Kayaking the 'Lang Way Roon'. An 800km+ trip round he Northern Coasts of Scotland completing the circuit through the Caledonian Canal.

Thursday, 28 May 2009

Leap of Faith

The grass must have been looking a little parched after yesterday afternoons 1hr of sunshine as by first light the rain was back on!

Another wet start.

It always takes longer to get going when you are confined to a tent but we managed to get on the water by 8.30am in time to catch the start of the North going steam around Rubha na Coigich.

The rain eased off but the visibility remaind poor at 1 to 3km. Wind was S F3-4.

RnC was a pussycat, today at least, compared with its cousin further south and we soon found ourselves peering North into the gloom across Enard Bay wondering if the was actually any land out there. Behind us lay the huge tilted sandstone slabs of the point.

The crossing to A'Cleit required a leap of faith in our navigation and it was sometime before we could make out its grey blurred outline ahead of us.

From there we swung North and headed for Clashtoll as a sensible break point that would allow us to take advantage of the now firmly established S F4 and following sea.

At one point in the crossing we came across a large group of blackheaded terns and guillimots apparently feeding, the terns like salt water humming birds. We hoped for a sighting of whatever was causing the excitement but no joy.

After lunch at Clashtoll we decided to stuck our noses out and see what conditions were likely, but by now the wind was a good F5 and the sea state now 'pretty rough' (Tony used a rather less nautical term for it) and we quickly concluded that the Stoer would have to wait. Instead we opted for the campsite at Clash, run by a very friendly chap by the name of Jim from Motherwell, which proved to be one of the finest either of us has seen in a while.